Karate
by Detective Rysposito
Summary: AU: Isabella is tired of being slapped around by her abusive "boyfriend"; more like the man that just keeps her trapped with him. She decides to learn karate, and her teacher just happens to be Phineas Flynn. They find themselves falling for each other as each lesson passes.


**What? Are you surprised to see me back in this fandom? I apologize for being gone for so long, I hope I didn't miss much and that my fellow PnF authors are still here...**

_**Ages**_

_**Isabella- 23**_  
_**Phineas- 23**_  
_**Ferb- 25**_  
_**Vanessa- 28**_  
_**Baljeet-22**_  
_**Buford-24**_

**This is an AU;**

**Vanessa and Isabella are best friends. Vanessa is married to Ferb and Ferb and Isabella are like brother/sister relationship. But Phineas and Isabella have never met. Oh and Buford and Baljeet are married bc cuties.**

* * *

Isabella curled into herself on the floor, hoping, begging for the beating to stop.

A particular nasty blow to her eye forced her to the floor and she stayed that way as her boyfriend continued to scream, "You're a no good filthy whore!"

Her sobs filled her mind and she didn't even realize the screaming stopped until the door slammed shut.

Isabella let out a shaky sigh of relief, he was headed out to the bar for the rest of the night and she now could talk to someone who would actually care about her.

She slowly lifted herself off the floor, caustiously as if he would come stomping back in their apartment.

She wiped the blood dripping from her nose off with the back of her hand. Her shoulders shook as she struggled to hold back her tears.

Always after every night that Rick slapped her around, her best friend, Vanessa was always the one to cheer her up.

Dragging her hand across the table, she picked up her phone and dialed Vanessa's number.

"Hey Vanessa?" She tried her best not to sound like she'd been crying, but that was nearly impossible for her not to notice.

"Bella? Are you crying? Was it Dick again?!" Vanessa secretly loved that his name was Richard, but still hated the man.

"Same place?" She asked quietly avoiding the question because Vanessa already knew the answer.

Vanessa sighed softly, "Meet ya' in 15."

Isabella made sure she wore her rounded sunglasses to the diner and kept her hair down so it could cover part of her cheek if needed.

She knew the looks she was getting. It was January and nighttime, but her she was shuffling into the dinner with her black eye hiding behind her large pink sunglasses.  
She saw Vanessa standing by their regular booth; the one in the secluded part of the diner.

She kept her gaze downwards until she was safe and away from the looks. Her back faced the rest of the restaurants so she was able to relax and not worry about the bruise on her cheek-she didn't dare remove the sunglasses though.

Vanessa shook her head once they were settleded, "Isabella, you have to tell someone about this, please. I am begging you." She took Isabella's hand in hers and squeezed it gently.

"You remember what happened last time I tried to get away? After I broke up with him? I went to the hospital!" Isabella knew Vanessa was just trying to help, but sometimes she felt like a broken record.

Vanessa looked down at her menu, "We have to do something, he's going to beat you to death because you were too scared to get away for good! Move out of the state, girl, you know I'll follow you wherever."

Isabella shook her head, "I still wouldn't be safe. Not completely."

"So you're saying he needs to go away for good?" Vanessa leaned back in the booth, "Because Ferb knows these two guys who can easily get rid of the body."

Isabella laughed, not knowing whether Vanessa was serious or not. "Let me guess, these two guys would happen to be the one that proposed to the other during visiting hours in jail."

Vanessa laughed clapping her hands, "The one and only! You know, Ferb says that Baljeet told him it was very romantic."

Isabella rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah, just the bee's knees."

Vanessa tapped her chin, "You know, I could just have Ferb take care of him-without causalities-just tell him what Dick's doing. He's love you like a kid sister; he'll be happy to show this guy his place."

Isabella shook her head, "I want to get rid of him, trust me, I do, but that's just it. Ineed to get rid of him. I'm tired of him treating me like a piece of shit!" Isabella smirked, truly looking like she was up to something bad with those sunglasses on. "I actually had a plan-"

"Devious Isabella, I like," Vanessa nodded in approval. "It's about time you stop smelling the flowers and start getting stung by a few bees."

Isabella wrinkled her nose, "Does that make sense?"

"'Course it does, living on the edge often leads to trouble." Vanessa shrugged her shoulders carelessly.

"Whatever, you mentioned once that Ferb has a brother? And he is like the head of the karate place in town?" Isabella asked in all seriousness again.

"Yes, Isabella, Phineas works in that karate place in town." She rolled her eyes, "Why?"

Isabella smiled, not mischievously, just a natural smile, "Because if I take karate lessons and can actually learn how to defend and fight back maybe he won't be the only kicking ass in our apartment."

Vanessa matched Isabella's smile with a smirk, "You know I could be the ideal friend here and say that you should just let the Police handle that dick, but this idea is just too good to pass up."

Isabella nodded in agreement and quickly stood back up, totally forgetting about dinner. "I'm gonna run now and hope they're still open!"

"Just tell them you're friends with the owner's brother's wife and you'll probably get a discount." Vanessa said with a wink.  
Isabella rolled her eyes and ran out the door with Vanessa screaming across the diner not caring who heard, "Kick his ass, sister!"

Isabella ran up to the door of dojo trying to catch her breath and smooth her hair and clothes before walking in.

She heard a faint little bell ring as she closed the door slowly behind her looking around the empty building.

"Sorry, Miss, but the dojo is closed for the night." A man walked out of the door across the room.

He was still wearing his Gi with a black belt tied loosely around his waist. His walk and his muscular physique gave off a 'closed off and angry' vibe, but once Isabella saw the smile decorating his face she immediately felt her heart warm.

"Uh, I know, I was just wondering if I could sign up for a class or something..." She blushed looking down at her feet. She wished she had dressed nicer, instead of her faded jeans and her pale pink sweatshirt, not to mention her stupid sunglasses.

The boy gave an amused smile, "Well, I call help you with that." He picked a binder off his desk and motioned for Isabella to come closer.

She quietly stopped in front of his desk and watched as he pulled a pen out of a mug that said "World's Best Brother" and flipped through sheets in the binder.

"What kind of classes are you looking for?" He asked reading the paper in front of him, "We've got Judo, Jui Juitsu, Hapkido, Krav Maga, Karate..." He listed some off.

Isabella had no clue what he was talking about, she just wanted to learn how to beat the shit of her abusive-boyfriend-that-isn't-really-her-boyfriend-because-she-broke-up-with-him-weeks-ago-but-he-refused-to-let-her-leave. Surely they had a class for that, right?

"Uhh...karate sounds good!" She nodded sticking to the only one she's ever heard of.

"Awesome," The red head smiled and looked back up, "When is good for you? There's classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and a morning class on Saturday." He went back to reading his sheet.

"Do you have private lessons? Monday-Friday?" She quickly asked.

The boy laughed, "Someone's eager, huh?"

Isabella shifted on her feet, "I just need to learn how to fight and fast."

His grin faltered, but didn't disappear, he took a closer look at her face and the glasses covering her eyes.

She caught on to his staring and lowered her head down to stare at the ground as she bit her lip.

She expected the man to turn her away and tell her to take her obviously domestic lroblem to the police, but he didn't.

Instead, she felt a soft pair of fingers lift her head up and her glasses were removed. She gulped nervously as she stared into the blue eyes of the man who was now much closer.

He sighed, "I suppose you're not gonna tell me who gave you those?" He knew her answer, but figured it was worth asking.  
She shook her head slightly, "I get it...I'll just leave-"

"No!" The man held her hand when she tried to turn away. She felt a blush creep up on her cheeks to see he didn't let go even when she turned back around.

"I want to help you, really, please stay."

He said softly, never breaking eye contact.

She nodded slowly, "Thank you."

His smile returned, only this time it was more of an sympathetic smile. "My name is Phineas, I run this Dojo and would love to teach you...whenever you want as long as you want."

Isabella's smile brightened Phineas', "You're Ferb's brother," Isabella noted. "I'm Vanessa's best friend."

Phineas' eyes widened, "Isabella?"

Isabella laughed, "I'm guessing Vanessa talks about me, yeah?" She brushed the hair that was covering her cheek behind her ear subconsciously.

Phineas smiled, "Yup, some good, some bad." He laughed lightly, "But she forget to mention how beautiful you are."

Isabella's cheeks burned with a blush as she giggled shyly, speechless as what to say. No boy has ever treated her this sweetly before.

Phineas nodded, and gestured to the mat, "Why don't we start tonight? I have an extra Gi in my office, all your lessons are on the house."

"No! I couldn't-" Isabella started to decline his offer of free lessons, but Phineas refused to hear it.

"Nope, I don't care. Now go get change and start learning how to kick some ass."  
Isabella took the Gi and headed into the bathroom, with a smile still on her face.

Even if he couldn't help her learn to fight well, she knew he'd be the one to teach her how to love and trust again.

* * *

_"She doesn't dare go in the place_

_with those bruises on her face,_

_so she goes through the drive-thru_

_with her sunglasses on."_


End file.
